"Graphic footage of dead children in amateur videos is not the image Syrian President Bashar al-Assad wanted to be associated with his name; furthermore, it is certainly not the image he paid professional public relations consultants to build. Years before he began his regime's bloody crackdown on the pro-democracy uprising by the people of his country, Assad launched a charm offensive that aimed to change his image from what many saw as an oppressive dictator who inherited power from his father to a young transformative leader. To assist with this task, Assad resorted to the services of a top PR agency based in New York; which, in a statement to Al Arabiya English, now claims that despite its advice for the young president to listen to his people; the "regime chose to save itself rather than the country"...".* The Young Turks host Cenk Uygur breaks it down.